Hello again.  Thank you for the responses on using MDF board.  The
pine boards I have looked at seem to be of the "truck dried" type.
You can buy the boards, take them home, wait about one week, and
then see if they are still as you bought them, or some of them might
have started to take on the shape of a pretzel.  I really do not
want to purchase lumber, stack it, and let it air dry for 6 to 12
months before I can use it.

Has any one out there used (Russian) Baltic birch plywood for pipes?
I know this has been used for smaller pipes but what about the 3 to 4
foot long pipes?  This material seems to be very stable and is
available in many different thickness.

Would the plywood be okay for the speaking (mouth) parts of the pipe?
This plywood is not inexpensive but it looks nice and I can purchase it
from 1/4" to 1" thick.  I really do not want to invest approx. $500.00
in a planer to reduce 3/4" pine boards down to 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" thick.
I have looked at ready-planed boards but they are all not the same
thickness.  In other words, in 1920-1950 you could probably find good
material.  It seems in 2002 it is now not quite so easy to find it at
a reasonable price.

If I was building a barn to keep my horses in I would not care if the
boards warped a little or were .500 thick or .600 thick.  If pine is
the best for pipes, where can quality boards be purchased?  Hope I am
not boring you with these questions!  I would rather ask questions than
spinning my wheels going in the wrong direction.

Many thanks,
Steve Lewin

 [ Visit the new web page, "Wood for Mechanical Music Instruments",
 [ by Hans van Oost, at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Tech/Wood/index.html
 [ -- Robbie